High Spirit
by Neo Namco
Summary: Ash and Misty have been sepparated for many years. They agree to meet back up but Misty is a no show. When they finally reunite four years later, Ash discovers she's changed so much.
1. Blue Glow

**HIGH SPIRIT**

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_Prepare yourself for a brilliant high ride of writing_

(Anything _italicized_ is Ash narrating. Or song lyrics)

Two people stand by the side of a lake. A male and a female. The male was 19 year old Ash Ketchum, and the female was 21 year old Misty Waterflower. "Mist no, please no." Ash begged her, with tears in his eyes. Misty held a sparkling blue heart shaped locket in her hands. She was preparing to throw it out into the lake.

"I'm sorry Ash, but this can't continue any longer." she wiped a tear from her right eye.

"Don't Mist, I can't stand the thought of you being gone. I want to see your face…even if I'm the only one who can." Ash continued to beg her.

"It's not right though!" she yelled at him.

Ash looked from her to the ground beneath him…a tear drop fell from his eye and to the dirt below. "…I know…" he responded, finally. "But…" he looked back up into Misty's eyes, her locket held tightly in her grasp. "You'll never convince me, even though it's true…you'll never convince me to feel positive on this decision." he continued to fight her.

"_She was about to leave my life again. I couldn't let her do that. I don't care if things are too different and too unusual to stay together. I wanted to be with her no matter what. She's my life, my friend, my soul mate…"_

"Oh Ash…I understand…but no matter what you say. No matter what I say. We both know what we have to do." she said, walking closer to the lake. Ash just stood there, watching her walk towards the body of water, she took the locket in her hand, pulled her arm back, and prepared to toss it into the lake, when Ash yelled out "Misty!"

"Misty!" Ash jumped up from his lying down position on the ground in the woods. His face was all dripping with sweat, and he had a terrified look. Brock, Max and May all screamed as they awoke to their friend's panicked scream.

(4 years earlier)

"Ash calm down. You were having a bad dream." Brock told him.

"Really?" Ash asked, his hand on his heart. Brock and the others, excluding Max nodded, whilst he went back to sleep. "Sorry for waking you guys." Ash apologized, placing his right hand behind his head.

"That's ok, it's time to get up anyways." Brock said, climbing out of his sleeping bag to go start a campfire and make breakfast.

"_I had continued to dream the same dream over and over again. Misty dying right in front of me. I wasn't sure what the dream meant. All I assumed is that if she were to be in contact with me again, she would lose her life. The love of my life would be lost if I were to see her again. That was a horrible thought…"_

Soon everyone was gathered around a fire, eating the breakfast Brock had just made them. "So what lame excuse did you have for waking us up so early Ash?" Max asked bitterly, as he stuck his spoon with jello on it into his mouth.

"Well, I dreamed that Misty…Misty drowned in a lake. And it was all my fault." he said.

"How so?" May asked, a face full of fire cooked waffles.

"For some reason I dreamed that I caused her so much pain. You know, it seems like I cause her a lot of pain. And I guess I caused her so much pain that she committed suicide." Ash summarized his nightmare.

"Well it's not hard to believe that." Max responded, taking a bite of his waffle.

But he was soon hit on the back of the head by his sister's fist. "Quiet Max!" she angrily told him.

"Ash, this nightmare is all due to you missing Misty. Even I have had dreams with her in them because I haven't seen her in so long." Brock told Ash, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Really?" Ash grinned at his older friend.

"Yeah. And they must mean something cause I usually dream of doing other girls." Brock told him, a chukle escaping his throat."

Ash raised his eyebrow "What?" Brock was silent for a few moments before responding. "…Who wants seconds?" he asked with a big grin, May and Max getting up to go get seconds from Brock. Ash still felt bad about his dream, as you would tell by the depressed look on his face.

It wasn't long before the group was off and headed to their next destination. Brock was reading over his map as they walked. "We should be there soon. Another few miles." Brock said, stashing the map back into his pocket.

It was warm, and the sun was causing mirages of water off in the distance ahead of him. "How can there only be a few more miles if we can't see a city from here?" Max asked, weary of traveling.

"It's just the sun boiling your brain, that's why." May responded.

"Not to mention the hit you gave me earlier." Max said, angry, and rubbing his head.

Suddenly they heard the sound of a flock of pidgeys behind them. They all turned around to see the flock. Then the flock flew over them, into the direction they were heading. They watched the pokemon fly off, and then they noticed a shack up ahead. "Hey, where did that shack come from?" Ash asked.

"I don't know. I didn't see it there earlier." Brock responded.

They all walked up to the shack, where an old short man walked out, pushing a cart with items placed on top. He wore a black and red cloak. "Good evening passers. Can I assist you to some merchandise?" the old man asked them.

"We could use some water." Brock told him.

Then an image of Misty popped into Ash's head. She screamed out "Nooo!!!" Ash was knocked out of his trance as a water bottle hit him in the head.

"Come on Ash, I didn't know you were that slow." May said, after tossing him the bottle. Ash looked at the merchandise on the table in front of the old man.

"Hey guys, Misty's birthday is coming up. I'm gonna get her something." he said, scanning the table.

"Whatever, do what you wish." Brock said, taking a drink of the water he just bought. Ash spotted mostly junk, spiritual crap…then he saw the perfect gift for Misty. It was a blue, heart shaped locket, and it was sparkling like crazy in the sun.

"How much is the locket?" Ash asked. The old man was completely silent for several seconds, before responding.

"This item is worth more than money it's self. I would be willing to trade for it however. Oh and also you would have to give me a thousand bucks." he told Ash.

Ash sighed. "All right." he took out his poke'dex, which also acts as a credit card. "And what else do you want in the exchange?"

"Your hat." the man responded. Ash frowned. but he took his hat off and handed it to the old man. And the old man handed Ash the blue locket.

"Wow Ash, giving up your hat for Misty?" Brock asked, grinning.

"Yeah, what's it to you!" Ash glared at his friend.

"Pleasure doing business with you." the old man said, grinning a huge smile. "That's a special locket. And the special person you give that locket to will let you see them forever." the old man told him.

"Don't you mean the person he gives it to will see him forever because she's the one putting the photograph in?" Max asked the man.

"So it would seem." the old man said, in a very creepy tone.

"_I got the strangest feeling from that old man. Like he was mystical and very wise. I wasn't sure why he wanted my hat, but I gladly gave it up for Misty. That locket was to change my life in the future, but I would not know how until a surprising discovery…"_

When the group got to the city, the first thing Ash did was mail the locket to Misty with a letter. Days later, Misty received the mail, on the very day of her birthday. She opened it up, excited, seeing that it was from Ash.

She unfolded the letter and read it. "Misty, happy birthday OLD friend. I'm just kidding. I got you this cause you were in my heart. Your friend Ash." She then pulled out the locket and held it in her hands in front of her. "Oh wow, this must have cost him a fortune." her eyes said it all with her joyful excited expression.

Misty went to her journey scrap book, and found a picture of Ash. He was sitting on a rock in front of a lake, with a sunset in the background. "Now you, Ash will be in my heart." she said, slipping the tiny photo into her new locket.

A couple weeks later while Ash was on the computer in his hotel room, he received a phone call. He answered it. "Hello." "Ash?" Misty asked. "Misty? What's up?" Ash was surprised to get a call from her.

"I just wanted to say hi." she said.

"Oh…well hi." Ash responded.

"I also wanted to tell you that I'm coming back." she said.

"Huh?" Ash asked, practically choking on his own saliva.

"I'm coming back. My sisters have returned to do the duties of the gym." Misty said with the scent of happiness in her tone.

"Really?" Ash smiled, and gave a little fist pump.

"Yeah, I'm packing up right now. I'll come find you….well where should I go?" she asked.

Ash thought hard "Remember the river where we met? How about by the lake where that river connects to?" Ash suggested.

"Ok, that's a beautiful spot, I'm on my way. Oh…and thanks for the locket Ash. That was really sweet." Misty thanked him.

"No problem…your welcome." he said.

"Well I'll be there soon." she said. "And I'll see you soon…" Ash said.

"_She never showed up by that lake. After not showing up for hours my friends and I searched the entire area, and including the river where we met. But we never found her. I phoned her several times over the next few days, until she finally responded…she told me that her sisters needed her back at the gym, as there was an emergency to by fixed. When I asked if she wanted me to come visit her at the gym…she responded with a simple and quick "No." That was the last time we talked, until 4 years later…"_

Ash woke up in his home sweet bed in Pallet Town. He yawned, stretched, and looked out the window to see a perfect crystal clear sky. "It's a beautiful day, Pikachu." he told his companion, who had also just woken up, and was sitting on his bed next to him. "And it's about to get even more beautiful when we go see our long awaited friend." he continued.

Ash got dressed and went into the kitchen where his mother was, sitting at the table, reading the news paper. "Good morning Ash…uh, going some where?" she greeted him, and then asked him.

"Yeah, I'm going somewhere." he said, pulling his backpack's straps over his arms.

"Are you going out to finally get your own place?" she asked, taking a sip of coffee.

"Heh-heh, not today I'm afraid. I'm going to visit Misty." he said, and took an apple off the table, and bit into it.

"You sure she'll be there?" she asked, concerned.

"Yes Mom. I talked to her yesterday. She told me she'd be there" he responded.

"Well ok. That girl is making you crazy you know." she said, getting up, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Crazy? What do you mean?" Ash asked, a little annoyed and frustrated, part of the whole hormone's thing.

"Oh nothing." she said, and sat back down to the table.

"No, what do you mean?" he continued.

"Nothing, now get a move on." she said, getting back up, and pushed him out the door. "Have fun." she said, shutting the door, the sound of the door being locked could be heard.

Ash sighed and looked down at Pikachu, who also had gotten shoved out of the house. "Come on Peek, let's get a move on." he said, and they headed off for Cerulean City.

* * *

The two had arrived in the city, at the location of the gym. "Here we are." Ash walked up to the entrance, where he found a note sticking out of the door. 

"Ash- meet me at the house. It's behind the gym-Misty" the note read. Ash walked behind the gym where there was a large field. Off in the distance was a tree, and behind the tree was a very large house. "Well…here we go." Ash said to Pikachu, and himself.

He had walked across the field, and up a few stairs to the padio and to the door. He knocked three times…but there was no answer. "Hello? Misty? Are you there?" he shouted, and knocked a few more times.

But again, there was no answer. He turned around to view the gym. He saw the tree there, an apple tree. He watched as one of the apples fell to the ground. Then he turned back to the door. "She can't do this to me again. I've waited so long to see her. This can't happen again!" he shouted angrily, a little tear escaped his eye.

Ash heard the thump of another apple hitting the ground, he turned back to the tree…there he saw her. It was Misty, sitting on one of the branches. He just starred out to her…not knowing what to say. "Misty?" he asked.

"Ash…?" she asked back.

"Misty!" he shouted her name. She jumped out of the tree and ran towards him. He ran down the stairs and towards her. Until they both collided into a big tight hug. "Misty, it's been awhile." he said, as he hugged her tightly.

"It has." she said at a low tone, as tears of joy ran down her face.

"You ok, Mist?" he asked of concern.

"Yeah, I'm just happy." she said, wiping a tear from her eyes as the two separated from their hug.

"Hey, you're wearing the locket I got you." Ash noticed it around her neck. "Oh yeah. I wear it all the time. And today it means more than any of those other times." she said.

"Oh?" Ash questioned.

"Uh…I…uh…" she wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"Did you put a photo in there?" he asked.

Misty blushed. "Yes…yes I did." she gripped the locket in her right hand.

"Can I see it?" he asked.

"Uh…I guess, here." she handed him the locket, but still around her neck. Ash opened it, and was stunned to see his own picture in her locket.

"You put my picture in there?" he asked, surprised, and joyed.

"Yeah…you gave me this locket, so why not?" she responded, with a cheerful smile.

"Well it's meant for someone you really care about." Ash told her.

"I know…and I really care about you." she said, Ash released the locket from his grip.

The two both smiled at each other for a long period of time there in the field. Pikachu watched on from the padio. Then it began to sprinkle upon the field. But suddenly, Misty began glowing bright blue. "Misty? Misty! What's going on!" he panicked. the blue glow encased her, the locket glowing it's brightest.

**(To be continued...)**


	2. Misty Mystery

**HIGH SPIRIT**

**Part Two**

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Misty was still encased in a blue glow which the locket seemed to be emulating, only much brighter. Ash wasn't sure what to make of it. He had panic spread all over his face. She too had a panicked look on her face.

"_That was the beginning of all the strangeness to come from her. A mysterious story was about to truly begin. I would be blown away and have my life change forever."_

Ash took action. He grabbed her around the waist and led her inside the house. "Get me a towel." she ordered, rubbing her still blue glowing body off with her hands.

He noticed a stack of towels a top a stool and quickly brought one to her. She began to dry her self. "What's going on? Why are you glowing blue?" Ash asked with fear and concern.

"I don't know. During the past several years when it rains, I've flashed blue." she responded whilst still drying her self off, causing the glow to vanish.

"And you never went to a doctor to see what's wrong? Cuz that is really wrong." Ash was freaking out about the situation.

"I have. They can't explain the reason for it. They said it doesn't seem to be harmful. They're reason for me turning blue they suggested might be due to chemical or radiation exposure." she explained, still drying her self.

"You had me scared out there." Ash said with his hand on his heart.

"Well I'm okay. Okay?" Misty reassured him, and tossed the towel on to the couch. Ash nodded in response. "Can I get you something to drink?" she asked, walking towards the kitchen.

"Uh…ok. Water will be fine with me." he said slowly, still not completely mind-free of the glowing incident.

Misty sighed. "Ok. Be right back." she left the room and disappeared into the kitchen."

Ash had watched her as she left. 'She still has a killer body.' he thought, before turning his attention to the house he had never once been in until now. He walked around the enormous living room, gazing at the set up.

He walked around the blue sofa with blue lacey pillows with matching blanket. Just about everything in the room was blue. He noticed many framed pictures on the wall of Misty and her sisters.

One of them looked to be on Halloween, from quite a few years ago. It also happened to be Halloween on this particular day. In the photo, Misty's sisters were each dressed casually in front of a sign that read 'Casper's Playhouse.' Misty was very young, she was dressed as a princess in blue. She was smiling and pointing to a cardboard standup of Casper.

Ash continued to gaze at the photos. Another one featured Misty and himself hugging. He remembered the photo well…

"Ash, Misty. I want you two to hug this instance." his mother had been arguing with them for some time.

"But Mom, I'm hungry. Could you make some cheeseburgers?" Ash complained, while rubbing his stomach.

"No Buts, and I mean that in you don't have a choice and also there will be no butt touching in this hug. It has to be clean." Delia got the camera ready.

Ash and Misty each made a disgusted face and then finally hugged, the flash went off and Ash's flash back was over. He smiled and continued looking at all the pictures.

There were hundreds of small pictures which concealed almost all of the blue wall behind it. Then he noticed a plaque amongst the sea of pictures. It read "In memory of Misty Waterflower"

Misty returned with two glasses. "Here's your water." she walked towards him.

"What's that plaque for?" Ash pointed to it, while taking his glass of water from Misty.

She took a sip of soda from her glass. "That's what the city gave me for my service as the Cerulean Gym Leader. My sisters got jealous." she smiled as she considered that a victory amongst her siblings.

"Where are you sisters?" Ash asked. "They're out of town on business. There's a meeting of the Kanto Gym Leaders at the Indigo Plateau on contract extensions, or something like that." she explained, taking another sip of soda.

"Why are you drinking soda? I thought that was just your situation drink. Like for parties or something. You usually drink water." Ash noticed this odd yet simple detail so importantly.

"People change, Ash. I want to live it up. Doesn't hurt to get some sugar in you every now and then." she took another sip. "Hey where's Pikachu?" she almost forgot about the little cutie.

"Uh…don't know." they didn't have to search for long. Pikachu was sleeping on top of the towel Misty used to dry her self off with earlier.

As hours passed the two were now situated on the sofa. They both starred ahead at a turned off television, awkward silence all around them. Ash glanced at his watch: 5:47pm.

Misty was singing 'Scars' by Papa Roach silently at the other end of the sofa. "But you never realized, that I'm drowning in the water, so I offered you my hand. Compassions in my nature, tonight is our last dance. I tear my heart open, I sow myself shut. My weakness is that I care too much, and my scars remind me that the past is real, I tear my heart open just to feel."

Though Ash enjoyed Misty's soothing singing voice, he had something he had been meaning to ask her. "So Misty…why didn't you meet up with me by the lake that day?"

She froze in her place and avoided eye contact with his. "Because…because I got sidetracked:"

(4 years earlier…)

"I can't wait to see Ash." a very joyful Misty walked along a dirt path beside a lake. She took out her heart shaped locket and placed it around her neck. "I love Ash's gift, but it's really heavy. He paid a lot of money for this and I can't be seen without it now." she giggled to herself.

The moment of joy was broken as a loud buzz from behind her skimmed over the top of her head. She shrieked at the sight of a beedrill. It hovered above her. Misty was freaked out. And things weren't about to get peaceful, as many many more beedrill's emerged from the trees and hovered over her. At once they all dived at her.

Misty was quick to react. She herself dove, into the lake next to her. She swam to the bottom, and looked back up to get a view of what was happening above.

(back to the present)

"I waited there till they were gone. When I returned to the surface. I got a call from my sisters, reporting a poke'mon drowning at the gym. I rushed back right away. It turned out that it was goldeen. She had gotten caught on something at the bottom of the gym's pool. She didn't make it." a tear ran down Misty's cheek as she explained her story with much emotion mixed in.

_"I had a feeling Misty was hiding something from me. I let it go…but it became more and more evident that she was hiding something from me because she continued to act more and more different."_

"That's too bad." Ash scooted closer to her and erased the tear trail with his finger.

"What's past is past." she responded.

"Indeed. So what exactly did you invite me over for?" Ash asked, interested.

"Does a friend need a reason to invite a friend over?" she asked, starring into his brown eyes.

"A girl friend does. Heh heh. Just a dumb joke. I don't mean to be feminist." Ash said.

"Sexist." she corrected him, wearing a smile.

"Right." he nodded and expressed that he knew the correct term. Another run of awkward silence followed his response. "So…see any good movies lately?" he finally asked.

"Yes. I have a lot of free time on my hands. I've seen every movie out right now. You could call me an unofficial movie critic." she said.

"I guess the movie idea is out of the question. Do you want to go out to dinner?" he asked.

"NO!" Misty yelled immediately following his question. She noticed the puzzled and shocked look on Ash's face. "I mean, no. it gets really crowded this time of day. And I just remembered there's a movie I haven't seen yet." she corrected her earlier response.

"Are you afraid to be seen with me?" he chuckled.

"Yes." was Misty's response, with a chuckle of her own. "But that's not the real reason. I haven't seen Saw 3 yet. I'm too scared to go by myself. And the fact that three people passed out during it doesn't make me that much more comfortable." she explained her reasoning.

"So you want to go see Saw 3 then?" Ash asked.

"Yeah. And it has a surprise ending, like the first two." Misty informed him.

"Those are the best kinds of movies." he responded.

"My favorite is Fight Club." she said.

"That one had a good twist. Unbreakable had a nice surprise too." he brought up.

"We could go on and on about this, Ash." Misty tried to get off the topic.

"All right. Let's go." Ash smiled and the two headed out the door to go see the movie.

* * *

They had arrived at the Harkin's theatre now and were inside with their tickets. "Ash could you hand her my ticket? I need to go wash up, my hands are sticky." Misty shoved the ticket into his hand.

"Uh, sure." he said, and handed both tickets to the woman, and she told him which direction their theatre was in. "do you want pop corn? Soda?" he asked Misty.

"No thanks." she shook her head twice.

The two were inside walking along the rows of seats. It was packed. They were about to watch a horror movie on the night of Halloween which advertises this day in every one of it's movies, and it was after 7pm.

Ash noticed two seats, the only problem is a man sat in between the two. "Let's take those seats, Ash." Misty pointed to them.

"I'll ask that guy to scoot over." Ash told her. "No, that's ok I don't-" but he wasn't listening, as he was already in the guy's space. Misty sighed and walked down the isle to catch her friend.

"Excuse me, sir. Do you mind scooting over so I can sit by my friend here?" Ash pointed behind him with his thumb.

The man looked to Misty and gave her a puzzled look with an eye brow raised, then he looked behind the him and to the entrance of the theatre, he seemed as if he was looking for someone. The man eventually subsided his search, sighed, and made room for Ash and Misty to sit beside each other. "Horror fans are so weird." was Ash's final words before the movie would start.

* * *

Two hours later after the movie was over, Ash and Misty were walking back home. Ash noticed they were taking a different path home then they took to the theatres. "Are we going the right direction?" Ash asked, but got no response from his friend.

They were now walking by a cemetery, Misty was closest to it on the left side of Ash. She starred in through the fence at the graves. She soon came to a stop at the entrance, and Ash imitated. "What are we doing here, Misty?" he asked, looking at her face, though she was concentrating on the cemetery. She did not respond to him. "…Misty?" he asked.

"Huh?" she quickly turned to him, snapping out of a seemingly trance.

"Are you ok?" Ash asked with concern.

"It's the fourth year anniversary of my grandma's death." she responded, her bottom lip trembled.

"Oh. Sorry." Ash became disappointed, understanding her loss.

"I was close to her. She took care of me and my sisters after our parents passed away." she explained. The two were then as dead silent as the cemetery they stood at. "I want to go visit her grave." Misty suddenly spoke.

"O-o-ok." Ash nodded nervously. "Are you scared?" Misty smiled. "Well…we just saw a scary movie. And now we're going into a grave yard at midnight." Ash explained the reason behind his fear, still nervous.

"It wasn't about ghosts. Come on. Let's go." she grabbed his arm and led him into the cemetery. They walked down the isles of tombs, looking for Misty's grandmother. There was an entire row of Waterflower's.

"Here's her grave." Misty knelt down in front of it. The name on the tomb read 'Ivy Waterflower.'

"1914 to 2002. She lived a long life." Ash said surprised at the age of 88 her grandma passed away.

"Yeah…unfortunately not all of us do." Misty turned to the graves beside Ivy's. there was Maury 'Brian' Waterflower and Kasumi 'Satoshi' Waterflower. the two graves were very dirty and had mold growing amongst them. Letters from their names were worn away, or covered with dirt and mold.

"My mom and dad. They died in a boating accident. Their boat sank in a collision." Misty explained while tears dripped down her cheeks. Ash saw this and comforted her as he bent down and wrapped her up in a hug.

It was then when he noticed another grave next to Kasumi's. "Why is there two Kasumi Waterflower's?" Ash asked.

"Oh." Misty wiped her tears away. "That's my aunt. Her middle name is Kasumi. Milly 'Kasumi' Wateflower." Misty explained, still wiping tears away.

"The mold and dirt has covered up her first name." Ash noticed, and the two separated from their hug.

"Knowing her, it's what she would have wanted. She was a very secret and mysterious woman and often just went by Kasumi for some reason. But if you want you can clean it up." she explained and got up off her kneeling position.

Ash scooted over to the grave and prepared to clean the dirty surface when a voice stopped him. "Hey you! The cemetery is closed, sir. Get out and take Kasumi with you." the grave keeper shouted.

"Huh?" Ash was confused. "I've also been known to go by Kasumi around here." she explained. "Sorry Mr. Graves, we'll be on our way." she told him while waving.

"…Well then go." he pointed to the exit. Ash and Misty collected themselves and left the cemetery.

* * *

The two now lied beneath the stars on a hill in a wide open field, the ocean was in front of them. They could hear the sound of waves washing up against the beach. Ash's arms were stretched out behind his head.

"At that moment things couldn't be more perfect. I was lying beneath the stars and moon in a perfect environment with the perfect girl. Though things were about to change then. Misty was about to say some things I didn't' quite understand at the time, but now of course I know what she was talking about. I hadn't the clue. She wanted me to come visit her because she had something really important to tell me. She just wouldn't come out and say it however."

_Look at the stars  
Look how they shine for you  
And everything you do  
Yeah, they were all yellow _

I came along  
I wrote a song for you  
And all the things you do  
And it was called yellow

So then I took my turn  
Oh what a thing to have done  
And it was all yellow

Your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones  
Turn into something beautiful  
D'you know?  
You know I love you so  
You know I love you so

"I wish I would have met back up with you all those years ago at the lake. I died knowing I missed my chance." Misty said, as she cuddled up with him.

Ash placed his arms around her. "Try not to think about that now." he said.

"It's too hard not to. I wish I could turn back time." she said, and then sighed.

"Don't we all? Things might actually be worse though, if we were some how able to do that." Ash responded.

"I don't agree. There's so much I could change for the better. I wouldn't make the same mistakes Ashton Kutcher made in 'The Butterfree Effect." she said.

"I think things are pretty good right now. I'm here with you. Everything worked out just fine." Ash thought aloud.

Misty on the other hand did not agree. "No it didn't." she shook her head in disgust.

"Put the past behind you, Mist." he told her.

"I can't…but I'll try for you." she said.

_  
I swam across  
I jumped across for you  
Oh what a thing to do  
'Cos you were all yellow _

I drew a line  
I drew a line for you  
Oh what a thing to do  
And it was all yellow

And your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones  
Turn into something beautiful  
D'you know?  
For you I bleed myself dry  
For you I bleed myself dry ("Yellow" by Coldplay)

They were back at Misty's house now. They sat on the couch, and the radio was on. The song "Somewhere Out There" by Our Lady Peace was playing.

_You're falling back to me_  
_The star that I can see  
I know you're out there somewhere out there  
You're falling out of reach  
Defying gravity  
I know you're out there  
Somewhere out there _

"Hey! That's the song I listened to over and over when we were apart." Ash excitedly mentioned.

"Really?" Misty chuckled. Ash nodded in response. Suddenly, for some unknown reason to Ash, Misty broke out and started crying.

"Misty what's wrong?" Ash asked very concerned, scooting closer to her.

"I'm just so happy I'm with you again." she and Ash hugged once again that day. It wasn't getting old though. When the hug faded, they lied down on the couch to sleep. Misty with her back to Ash's stomach. He pulled a blanket down from the couch's top/back and threw it over their bodies.

They began falling asleep. "I love you, Ash. And ill always remember you. Will you remember me?" Misty said very quietly, as she was almost asleep.

"Yeah" Ash yawned "I will." and the two were out cold after that.

The song "I just died in your arms tonight" by Cutting Crew played as they were off in slumber.

_Oh I, I just died in your arms tonight  
It must have been something you said  
I just died in your arms tonight…_

**Eight months later chapter two came out, but at least I got it out. This chapter doesn't end with an interesting cliffhanger like the previous one, but I can promise you that things will continue getting more mysterious and exciting as the chapters come. Expect two more chapters at least.**


	3. Reunion

**HIGH SPIRIT**

**Part Three**

**iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii**

Ash opened his eyes the next morning, he was all by him self on the couch. "Misty?" he called out, sitting up, and looking around the room. "Misty. Where'd you go?" he panicked.

"Calm down, Ash. You sound like a crazy clingy girl." Misty appeared behind the couch, suddenly.

"Just worried is all." Ash blushed, and his face with his hand.

"You never have to be worried about me anymore, you know." she told him, now standing in front of the couch.

"Ok…fine." Ash wasn't sure how to respond to that. Pikachu suddenly came running from the hall way, and into the living room. He ran through an open space between Misty's legs(between her feet, her open stance…sickos) and jumped into Ash's chest, causing him to fall backwards on to the couch.

"Oof. There you are, buddy." Ash pet him after the catch.

"Don't just lie there. Take a shower and get ready to go." Misty ordered, hopping up and down in anticipation.

"But I'm tired." Ash rubbed his eyes, and then yawned.

"But I'm excited about seeing everyone. C'mon-c'mon -c'mon-c'mon-c'mon-c'mon-c'mon." she continued jumping up and down. Ash stared with interest at the motion of her body.

"Ok, Von Bondies." Ash said, referring to the band that sings 'C'mon C'mon.' "Your sure in high spirit today."

"I want to see your mom and Brock. Now get up off your ass and take a shower." she pointed down the hall to the bathroom.

"You haven't changed at all." Ash got up off the couch, setting Pikachu down on one of the cushions.

"Yes I have." she responded.

"Stay here with Misty, Peek." Ash pet Pikachu on the head, and turned to leave. "Keep her comfort.

Misty looked down to Pikachu, and he looked up to her. "Pi?" he tilted his head. Ash walked down the hall and into the bathroom.

"_That day we were going to my house back in Pallet to see my mom and our friends. It was to be a reunion get together. It was there where things would become more mysterious. And it all revolved around Misty."_

Ash and Pikachu now stood at the door impatiently. Ash looked up at a blue clock on the wall. The time was 11:01am. "Hurry up, Misty!" he shouted.

"Pika? Pika?" Pikachu tilted his head from side to side, while looking up at his master.

"Umm…I'll assume that meant 'damn, Misty hurry your ass up!'" Ash translated for his poke'mon.

Misty came storming into view from the hall, with a wooden box in her hands. "Jeez, Ash! You sure are ignorant. You haven't seen me in four years and this is how you act?" she was very frustrated with him at the moment.

"I saw you all day yesterday." Ash responded. But that was obviously the wrong response to go with. Misty dropped the box on the floor, a very loud thud sounded off. The action caused Ash to cringe. He shut his eyes tightly in disgust of what he had done.

When he opened his eyes shortly after, he saw she was rubbing her left arm with her right hand. "I thought you were gonna punch me or something." Ash broke a long silence.

"If it were four years ago I might have punched you…or something." she responded, looking down at his feet. She looked up and into his eyes, and walked closer to him. Until there was no room left between them, and she hugged him tightly. He placed his arms around her waist, and she placed her head on his left shoulder.

"But all I want now is to cherish being with you. We may not get to hang out again." she said.

"What are you talking about Misty? Why not?" they became distant from the hug.

"You don't have to go out on another journey or something?" she asked.

"Well…I'm not…not a poke'mon champ yet. I can't give up that dream." he said.

"See?" Misty put on a fake smile.

"But you can come along. Do you want to?" Ash offered.

She looked up at him and frowned. "Sure. I'll be there. I'll be with you from here on out." she put on a reassuring smile.

"Good. So are we ok now?" he asked, making sure their earlier fight wasn't still an issue.

"You better believe it." she said, walking up to him. She stood on her tippy toes and kissed the much taller now Ash on the forehead.

"Hey, what's the box for?" Ash asked her, as she picked it up off the floor.

"Oh. It has a bunch of photos of everyone. You and Brock, etcetera. I wanna show your mom." she explained

"That should be fun. Bringing back old memories." Ash smiled.

Misty frowned "Yeah."

"What happened to your high spirit?" Ash asked.

"Sorry. I mean… yeah baby!" she said excitedly.

"That's what I'm talking about. Let's go…baby!" Ash joined the fun.

* * *

Many hours later, following a light rail ride from Cerulean City to Viridian City, the two had arrived in Pallet Town now. Both of them wore jackets, as it was very cold outside. A soft layer of snow covered the ground.

"As you know, my mom gets very excitable. So brace yourself." Ash warned her as they walked up to the house.

"I'm ready." Misty smiled.

He opened the door with his key and the two stepped inside. "Mom. Are you there? Mom? Hello?" he asked, looking around the house.

"Mrs. Ketchum?" Misty called, setting the wooden box she brought down on a small table beside the couch. She and Ash were in the living room. "Now what?" she asked.

"We wait." Ash replied and sat down on the couch. Misty did the same.

"Where do you think she is?" she asked him.

"Probably getting party supplies. She's gonna try and go all out." Ash theorized. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Ash got up off the couch and headed towards it. He opened it up to see Brock standing there.

"Hey Brock." Ash greeted him.

"Ash, my man." Brock hugged him tightly. Misty noticed Brock standing there and gasped.

"Do you know where my mom is?" Ash asked.

"Yeah. She's at the store. I was just over at Gary's place. I got his boom box for some party music." he held it up.

"Great." Ash nodded his head.

"Yeah, so can I come in. it's freaking freezing out here." Brock shuttered. The two walked inside towards the living room.

"Misty's on the couch." Ash told him, while locking the door.

Brock sat the 'boom box' down on the small table beside the couch, where Misty's box had been set, but was now gone. "Looks like Pikachu to me." Brock responded.

Ash walked into the room to see Pikachu in Misty's prior position on the couch. "Huh? Where'd she go?" Ash asked.

"I'm right here. I was in the bathroom. Sorry." Misty walked in and pointed to her self, and then zipped up her jacket.

"Hey, Misty. It's been awhile." Brock walked towards her with his arms out stretched.

"Sure has." she said, also moving forward, till they collided and hugged.

"Where have you been?" Brock asked when they released.

"How bout I explain when everyone's here. That way I don't keep repeating myself today." Misty suggested.

"Sounds fair." he took his coat off. "It's damn warm in here."

"I know. How can you wear that jacket, Misty?" Ash asked her, he now taking his coat off as well.

"I'm still cold." she said, hugging her self.

"Weird. Cuz I was just outside and I got warm in like ten seconds." Brock said, now thinking about taking his shirt off as well.

"People are different." Misty replied.

"Hello?!" the voice of an older woman called out.

"Mom? That you?" Ash asked.

"Yeah! Stop standing around and come help with the groceries!" she yelled.

Awhile later after they all unloaded everything from Delia's car, all the stuff sat on the table, with everyone there gathered around it. "Thank, kids. And before I put the food away, I want to say: hi Misty! It's been forever, girl!" she grabbed Misty and hugged her tightly.

"I don't know how many more of these I can take." Misty said, making everyone laugh.

"Ok now everyone out. Mime! Come help!" she called. Mr. Mime came sprinting into the kitchen while the group went into the living room. They sat down on the couch

"What do we do to pass the time?" Ash asked.

"We could go visit Tracy and Professor Oak." Brock suggested.

"All right. Let's go." Ash got up off the couch, ready to go as always.

"Wait. I need to use the potty." Misty whispered and ran down the hall.

"Again?" Brock turned to Ash.

"She's been acting weird. She's changed since we last saw her." Ash explained.

"Not surprised. It's been four years after all. Do you know of any trauma or anything significant that's happened to her in that time.?" Brock asked.

"No." Ash shook his head.

"But maybe she just changed on her own. Did she tell you why she didn't meet us at the river that day and never bothered to contact you since?" Brock asked, a little frustrated him self that she didn't speak to them in so long.

"Yes and no." Ash answered.

"Huh?" Brock raised an eyebrow.

"She told me why she didn't meet up, but not about contacting us." Ash explained.

"What was her reason?" Brock asked.

"Just wait for her to tell the story later." Ash said, and sighed.

"Fine. It just sounds a little weird is all." Brock shrugged his shoulders, trying to forget about it.

"Ok. Let's go." Misty returned, zipping up her jacket again. Ash and Brock both put on their jackets, and they went out the door.

Awhile later the three arrived at Professor Oak's laboratory in Brock's Honda Civic. They got out of the vehicle and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, Tracy answered the door.

"Hey, guys. And Misty! I haven't seen you in almost a decade." he opened his arms to hug her.

"I know. I'm so sorry." she apologized, and the two hugged. "My body is becoming numb because of these hugs." she struggled to breathe.

"Come on in." Tracy released her "Professor Oak is getting dressed at the moment. We'll head over to your mom's when he's finished." he welcomed them in and they entered the living room, and then turned back to Tracy for further instructions.

"Sit down. It could take awhile. Oak's like a woman when it comes to getting dressed. He takes forever. Tracy explained, and they all say down on the couch.

"You talking about me, Sketchit?" Gary asked, as he entered the scene.

"Oh, no Gary. I was talking about your grandfather." Tracy said.

"Oh all right then." Gary nodded in agreement, and then took a seat in a recliner.

"Hey, Gary. How you doin?" Brock asked.

"I'm good as always. But the question should be directed at Misty. How you doin?" Gary raised his eye brows a couple of times, after quoting the character, Joey, from the TV show Friends.

"Hi, Gary. I'm fine." Misty smiled back at him.

"I can see that. Your even finer than you used to be. But you'd be more fine if you took off that jacket. It's kind of warm in here." Gary said, staring at her.

"I don't wanna." Misty closed her eyes.

"Why not?" Gary asked, and grinned at her.

"Leave her alone, Gary." Ash gave Gary the 'you better stop or I'm uh coming over there and kicking your ass' look.

"Come on, Misty. Show me what you got." Gary continued his harassment.

Misty sighed. "All right." she surrendered and stood up and took off her Navy blue jacket to reveal a white tang top and the locket underneath. She quickly gripped the locket in her right hand.

"That looks expensive. You buy it?" Gary asked, staring at what she assumed to be the locket.

"No. Ash did." Misty turned to Ash and smiled.

"Really?" Gary turned to Ash now, and grinned. "You bought that for her? Did you trade in your food money for it?"

"No. I had a thousand to spare, and it was her birthday too." Ash said.

"That's not all he spared. He also had to trade in his hat." Brock mentioned.

"For money?" Gary asked, intrigued with their new topic.

"No. the guy told me I'd have to give up my hat too. He didn't say why." Ash explained what he could.

"All right I'm ready. Oh hello, everyone." Samuel Oak entered the room.

"Tracy called you a girl, Professor." Brock tattled quickly.

"Yes, yes. Very well." Sam nodded.

"Hi, Professor." Misty waved to him, and got up to go get ANOTHER hug.

Sam stepped back from her. "Um, I don't think that's a very good idea." he coughed into his hand.

"Are you sick?" Misty asked, concerned.

"Yes. And anyone whose touched me since I've had this cold has gotten it back in return." he explained.

"You know what? In the last four years I haven't gotten sick once. It's like I've become immune to diseases. It sounds dumb but I think it's true." she told him, Sam raised an eyebrow.

'I wonder if that has to do with the blue glow.' Ash thought.

"Well if you don't mind…" Sam and Misty hugged for a few seconds. "Are we all ready to go, then?"

"Yeah. Let's get out of here." Ash hopped up off the couch.

"Not me, though. I have a date tonight." Gary said, grabbing his jacket, smacking Misty on the bottom, and then walked out the door.

"Ever since he discovered his cheerleaders have other uses he never wants to do anything else." Sam explained.

"Can you blame him?" Brock asked, and everyone but Misty laughed.

Not too long later, the cheerful group arrived at the Ketchum residence. Brock took his Honda with Tracy, and Ash and Misty rode in Oak's blue Ford Explorer, it was a hybrid.

"So why again, Misty, did you stay hidden for four years?" Sam asked her.

Misty sighed once again. "I'll explain when everyone's together." she said. Ash opened the door to the house and everyone walked in.

"Mom. We're all here." Ash called out. "Pika-pika." Pikachu called as well.

"Hi everyone." Delia walked into the room "make yourselves comfortable, lighten up, and forget all your troubles and worries. This is a party and no one will crash it. You hear me?" she glared at each person.

"Yes, Mrs. Ketchum." Brock nodded, and then nervously gulped.

"What's gotten into you, Mom?" Ash asked.

"She's been this way ever since team rocket ruined your party all those years ago." Sam leaned in and whispered to him.

"Don't just stand there. Party. Here. I'll put on some party music." Delia turned on the 'boom box' Brock brought earlier. The song, 'B.Y.O.B' by System of a Down was on.

_Why do they always send the poor? _

_My God is of Bible blood with pointed ears_

_Victorious, victorious steel_

_Can your spending kneel? _

_Marching forward hypocritic _

_And hypnotic computers_

_You depend on our protection _

_Yet you feed us lies from the tablecloth _

_La la la la la la la la la la _

_Everybody is going to the party _

_Have a real good time_

_Dancing in the desert _

_Blowing up the sunshine _

"All right! That's what I'm talking about." Sam began dancing like a young man. Everyone started laughing, except for Delia.

"Ash. I need to talk to you." she said.

"Huh?" Ash turned around to see him mother walking into the hallway. She turned around and motioned him to come over by pointing below her.

He walked to her holding a plastic cup with a drink beverage inside "What's up, Mom?" Ash asked, taking a sip.

"I want to talk about Misty." she said, her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, I know. Respect her, be a gentleman, use a condom. I have one." he responded, quoting his mother from the past.

"What?" Delia asked. "What?" Ash asked back.

"Anyways. That girl went snooping around my room earlier and stole some photos." his mom leaned in towards him, with an angry glare on her face.

"Huh? Wow do…I mean…how do you know it was her? What's in this coke?" Ash asked, examining his cup.

"Because I caught her leaving my room before you went to see Professor Oak. When I asked her what she was doing, she said she thought my room was the bathroom. Though she's been here many times before. She lived here for a couple months at one time." Delia told him.

"She's been acting weird lately. Lately as in since I was reunited with her." Ash explained.

"Maybe she's been turned against us. She's a spy." Delia predicted.

"Mom, your crazy. What kind of cola did you get now?" Ash asked her, his arms crossed.

"It's from Mexico." she told him.

"That explains it." Ash looked at his drink.

"I'm gonna find out what she's up to though." Delia walked away. Ash sighed and took off back to the party, when he saw his mother looking back. "We shall solve this mystery. We shall find out who this mysterious woman is." his mom told him, he sighed again.

* * *

It was dinner time now and everyone was sitting at the table, eating burgers, hot dogs, and chicken. "Awesome grub, Mom." Ash said, taking a bite of his burger.

"Thanks, sweetie." she thanked him. Pikachu meanwhile was walking around the table, hoping someone would give him something to eat like a dog. He stopped beside Misty's chair and looked up.

Misty stuck her fork into her chicken, and brought it to her mouth. Suddenly Pikachu jumped on the table in front of Misty "Pikachu pika! Pikachu pika! Pikachu pikachu. Pika pika pikachu!" he shouted loudly.

"Pikachu! Off the table!" Delia ordered. She walked over and picked up the loud poke'mon, and threw him off the table. "Bad poke'mon. bad." she said, shaking her finger. "Pi…" Pikachu left the area.

"What was that all about?" Tracy asked.

"Are you wearing some kind of deodorant, Misty?" Delia asked.

"I don't think so." she responded.

"Well anyways, let's get back to eating." Ash said, and they all did as followed.

The song 'Scars' by Papa Roach came on the radio just then. "Ooh! I love this song!" Misty squealed.

_I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut  
And my weakness is that I care too much  
And our scars remind us that the past is real  
I tear my heart open just to feel _

I tried to help you once  
Against my own advice  
I saw you going down  
But you never realized  
That you're drowning in the water  
So I offered you my hand  
Compassion's in my nature  
Tonight is our last stand

_I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut  
And my weakness is that I care too much  
And our scars remind us that the past is real  
I tear my heart open just to feel _

"So Misty. Why don't you tell us where you've been for the last several years." Sam decided to ask the question everyone wanted to know the answer to.

Misty frowned. She was silent for awhile. While everyone had their attention focused on Misty, Ash had his attention focused on his meal. he was digging into his chicken now.

"Ok…I was suppose to meet Ash by the river where we first met. But I got a call from my sisters about a death in the family." Misty started, and then put a hand to her forehead.

Ash nodded to Misty's story, while continuing to eat.

"My sister's, Daisy, and Violet…were killed in a car accident." Misty managed to get out.

Ash gasped with a mouth full of food and began choking. Brock patted him on the back "You ok, Ash?" he asked him. Ash collected himself once his coughing subsided.

"I'm so sorry, Misty." Delia said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I haven't been the same person since. It was difficult for me to talk to anyone for along time." Misty continued, lowering her head.

"Oh…" Delia lowered her head as well, along with everyone else. Except for Ash. He sat there with his jaw hanging open.

"I guess that's why I hadn't talked to any of you for so long. I guess." she said sadly. Delia got out of her seat, and hugged Misty, the two were both crying.

_"Misty had just told my family and friends a completely different story than the one she told me. Though this one made more sense, was that one even the story of truth? I wasn't sure If I could trust her. But my feelings towards this girl wouldn't let me not trust her."_

"Hey. You want to see something creepy?" Delia asked after the long silence.

"Um…sure, ok." Misty answered, and wiped a tear from her cheek. They watched as Delia left the room and went down the hall. About a minute later she returned to the kitchen with a photo in her hands.

"Check out this photograph of Ash and his friends." she handed to Misty. Everyone got out of their seats and crowded around her to get a look at the picture that they had already seen before.

The photo showed the group sitting on a log in front of a river. It appeared to be raining on this particular day. Brock sat on the far right of the log. Max sat to his left, and May sat left of him.

Ash was on the far left of the log. Pikachu was in his lap. But behind Ash was a dim blue light. "Isn't that just the most eerie thing you've ever seen?" Delia asked. Misty was stunned. She could not speak at this moment.

"I took the picture two years ago." Delia mentioned.

"That was just before May and Max went their separate ways." Brock also mentioned.

"Check out the dark blue heart shape in the center of the glow." Delia pointed it out to Misty.

"It sure is interesting." Misty finally spoke, her attention completely fixated on the picture. We go back to the photograph, zoomed in on the area of the heart. Then we zoom into Misty's eyes. In her pupil we see a blue heart appear.

* * *

Later that night Ash and Misty are in the living room, sitting on the couch. Brock was asleep on a recliner across from them. The lights were off, the only light was coming from the television set, which was playing some old home videos of Ash as a younger child. The clock read 11:57 pm. On the radio, the song "The Ghost Of You" by My Chemical Romance played.

_I never, said I'd lie and wait forever  
If I died we'd be together now  
I can't always just forget her  
But she could try _

At the end of the world  
Or the last thing I see  
You are  
Never coming home  
Never coming home  
Could I?  
Should I?  
And all the things that you never ever told me  
And all the smiles that are ever ever...

Ever...  
Get the feeling that you're never  
All alone and I remember now  
At the top of my lungs in my arms she dies  
She dies

At the end of the world  
Or the last thing I see  
You are  
Never coming home  
Never coming home  
Could I?  
Should I?  
And all the things that you never ever told me  
And all the smiles that are ever gonna hug me  
Never coming home  
Never coming home  
Could I?  
Should I?  
And all the wounds that are ever gonna scar me  
For all the ghosts that are never gonna catch me

"Mist?" Ash asked, with his eyes closed. He had a cup of water in his hands and took a sip.

Misty looked to him "Yeah?" she answered

He opened his eyes and looked into hers "Why didn't you tell me that your sisters died? Why a goldeen?" Ash was puzzled over the different stories she told.

"That's kind of part of the reason I contacted you. I wanted to tell you something. But I'm not sure if I can anymore." she said, now taking her turn to close her eyes.

"What are you talking about? Tell me what?" Ash raised his eyebrow.

"Nothing." she looked away.

"Come on. We're friends. In fact we're great friends. What can't you tell me?" he asked her, taking her hand in his. She looked down at their intertwined hands.

"You have no idea. I told you the goldeen story for you alone. You have to figure out why." she told him.

"Why? I don't want to play a game, Mist. Are you trying to be a real life Jigsaw character?" he asked.

"All I can tell you is the story I told you is mostly true too."

"Wha?!" Ash asked loudly. He was confused as hell.

"Keep it down." she whispered.

Brock tossed and turned on the chair "But I wanna do you both." he said until he became still.

"Your just unbelievable, Misty. Undeliverable." Ash shook his head in disgust. He took another drink of his water, in anger he poured what remained on his face.

"That's what Gary said last night." she joked, smiling at Ash.

"Yeah, whatever." he crossed his arms and lets in frustration.

"Come off it, Ash. Get happy." she made a sad puppy dog face. Ash tried looking away. "Ash…say something." she inched closer to him, using her sexy voice to persuade him.

"Your hot." he finally said.

"There you go." she clapped silently.

"I mean it. You ARE hot." he said.

"Why thank you." she replied with a giggle.

Ash couldn't take it any longer. He needed to taste those gorgeous lips. He leaned in and kissed her. Misty was taken by surprise with his move. But she soon started kissing him back.

The kiss intensified, Misty put her hands behind Ash's head, she removed his hat, and pulled him towards her. The two lied down on the couch, Ash on top of Misty, still kissing passionately.

When the two separated from the long kiss, Ash noticed Misty's lips were glowing blue. "What the?" his eyes widened.

"Don't stop." Misty moaned, putting a hand to his cheek. Ash shrugged his shoulders and went back in to kiss her.

_At the end of the world  
Or the last thing I see  
You are  
Never coming home  
Never coming home  
Never coming home  
Never coming home  
And all the things that you never ever told me  
And all the smiles that are ever gonna haunt me  
Never coming home  
Never coming home  
Could I...  
Should I?  
And all the wounds that are ever gonna scar me  
For all the ghosts that are never gonna..._

**All right then. There you have it. The fourth and final chapter is next. Prepare your selves.**


	4. Forever In High Spirit

**HIGH SPIRIT**

**Part Four**

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Ash strolled down the sidewalk. A flock of pidgey's flew by him. One of them carried his old had he traded in for Misty's birthday present. He was puzzled by what he just saw. But his attention was drawn else where soon after.

The screaming of a very familiar friend was coming from over the hill beside the sidewalk where he was walking. "Ash! Help me!" Misty screamed from the other side.

"Misty?" he called out. He rushed over the hill to seek his troubled friend out. When he reached the top, he gazed the beach down below. It was empty. "Misty!" he called, now running down to the beach. He ran through the sand, looking everywhere.

"I'm in the water! Help!" she yelled. Ash looked out to the ocean. There she was, splashing, and panicking. Her arms flailing all about.

"Hold up, Mist. I'm coming. I'm coming." he told her as he ran in her direction.

_There goes my hero  
watch him as he goes  
There goes my hero  
he's ordinary _

_There goes my hero  
watch him as he goes  
There goes my hero  
he's ordinary _('My Hero' by Foo Fighters)

"Hurry, Ash." she leaked tears from her eyes. The fear was over whelming. Ash jumped into the ocean, and swam to her as fast as he could, but she then disappeared as she sank into the water.

"Misty!!!" he screamed, after sitting up on the couch he was lying on. "Huh?" he realized he was back at home.

"Shut up, Ash." Brock walked into the room, holding a blue bowl and mixing the ingredients inside with a rubber spatula. He starred at Ash like he was a moron.

Ash soon realized that he had been dreaming. 'Stupid recurring dream. I thought it was weird that a song started playing out of no where.' he thought. "Where's Misty?" he asked, getting off the couch.

"Dunno…Bathroom?" Brock ventured a guess.

Ash walked down the hall to the bathroom and knocked. "Misty?"

"No. not her." the feminine voice of Tracy responded.

"Sorry." he apologized and exited the hall. He walked into the kitchen where he saw his mom and Professor Oak sitting at the table, talking.

"Mom. Have you seen Misty?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah. She went to the beach." she replied, and took a sip out of her blue coffee cup.

"I sent Gary with her for protection." Sam added.

Ash took off running towards the door. "Honey, don't forget your sweater." he mom called. He ignored her, he ran out the door, and ran down the street. He ran as fast as he could.

He eventually reached the hill that stood in front of the beach. He stopped there to catch his breath. He was leaned over, holding on to his knees for support. He spat out on to the ground.

He looked back up to the hill, where he saw Gary emerge. He walked down the hill towards him. "Gary." Ash was able to say through his heavy breathing..

"What are you doing out here, Ash?"

"Where's Misty?" Ash asked, now standing up straight.

Gary saw the serious look in Ash's eyes. "I don't know. My grandpa sent me after her. All I found were her foot prints. No sign of her." Gary replied, looking down towards Ash's shoes.

Ash took off running once again, he ran up the hill to the beach. He reached the top and stopped. He saw Misty standing near the water down on the beach. She was staring into the sunrise. He ran down the hill and through the sand.

"Ash! What are you doing?!" Gary called. Then he sighed and walked away.

"Misty? What are you doing out here?" Ash asked, after stopping behind her.

"I wanted to be alone and think." she replied, not taking her eyes off the sunrise.

"Oh…I'll go then." he said, and started walking away.

"No-stay." she quickly said, turning around to see him. He stopped and turned around to meet her eyes. The two both smiled at each other. That's when his smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown, his eyes widened.

He realized something. Images flashed through his mind. -the beach…the ocean. The waves washing against the beach. Misty screaming "Noooo!" "Ash! Help me!" she screamed, she was drowning in the water-

"My recurring dream." he said after the images stopped coursing his mind. He backed up a few steps from Misty, fear on his face.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Saving you." he replied, turned around, and started running.

"Ash!" she ran after him.

The two both ran through the sand, up the hill, down the hill, down the street, and into a park. That's where the two both came to a halt.

"Are you ok?" Misty asked him, while catching her breath.

"I am if you are." he said, also catching his breath.

"Well I'm not…and I never will be ok." she said, turning away from him.

"Why not?"

"Cuz of all the trauma I've gone through the past four years." she replied.

"Well guess what? I'm gonna do my best to relieve it…all. Wash it all away." he told her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You can't wash it all away."

"I'll try. Especially if we start a relationship." he said, and put his arms around her. "About that. I don't think it's a good idea." she pulled away from him, and started walking down the sidewalk, towards the house.

"Why not?" Ash asked, upset.

"Because…" she stopped and turned to face him. "it's too complicated."

"How do you mean?" he asked, walking towards her.

"I've changed, Ash. I really have."

"So? So you don't drink water anymore. You don't like to go out to eat. You have to go to the bathroom often, you steal photos…I don't care about any of that. And it's nothing I cant handle." he said as he circled her several times, until he was back facing her.

"You've no idea." she said, her eyes becoming watery.

Ash moved closer to her. He looked into her eyes, and placed his lips on hers. She kissed him back. The two wrapped their arms around each other, hands exploring.

"Damn, Ash. That's a nice hottie you got there." a guy his age said, walking by with his girlfriend.

"Thanks, Shane." Ash waved to him as the couple walked away. "that was just a childhood friend of mine. He always teased me I'd never get a girlfriend." Ash explained.

Misty smiled. "I feel better now." she said.

"Good. Show some high spirit for now on. Ash is here." he told her.

She laughed at his statement "I'll try…for you." she said, and smiled.

* * *

The two got back to the Ketchum residence and walked into the kitchen, where everyone sat at the table, eating breakfast. "There you two are. Come eat." Delia said, a mouth full of eggs. 

'That's where Ash gets it.' Misty thought, referring to her friend's mom talking with her mouth full just as he does. Then she and Ash sat down to the table next to each other.

"Is everything ok?" Delia asked, this time her mouth was not full of food.

"Yeah." Ash nodded and started eating right away. Pikachu was on the floor eating an apple. He was beside Misty's chair, near the end of the table.

Pikachu once again watched as Misty stuck her fork into her food. She brought the fork with pan cakes up to her mouth and took a bite. And once again this caused Pikachu to act out of order. He jumped up on to the table in front of Misty's plate and started shouting.

"Pikachu! Pika pika! Pika pikachu."

"Pikachu! Get off the table!" Delia yelled at the pokemon, picked him up, and set him on the floor.

"What's wrong with him?" Tracy asked, startled.  
"Mating season…?" Brock suggested.

"Oh…" Misty frowned, she had realized something. Something she didn't want to think about. But there was no escaping what she had come to be reminded of.

"What's wrong, Misty?" Brock asked her, concerned.

"Oh nothing." Misty continued her earlier frown.

"Well anyways, as I was saying before Ash and Misty got back…" Sam started "Gary's girlfriend and her parents are coming over tonight."

"May I have the honor of cooking for them?" Brock asked, very well mannered-like.

"Of course, Brock. You are a great chef, I must admit." Delia replied.

"I have to go…" Misty stood up, shoving her plate forward.

"Where to?" Ash asked her, puzzled.

"…Bathroom." Misty replied. She stood there for a few seconds before walking away and went down the hall. Ash frowned, feeling worried about her.

"I can't wait to met the parents of my grandson's girlfriend. Oh, and I can't wait to meet HER too." Sam laughed after his statement.

"Me too! He's always had good taste in chicks." Brock commented Sam's grandson.

"A-hem!" Delia gave him the evil look.

"I mean women." Brock corrected himself.

"When your outside this house with the boys you can call women whatever you want. But not here." she told him.

"Yeah, sure." Brock replied.

"Ash. You need some lip gloss. Your lips are so dry." his mother told him.

"I'm fine mom." he told her, rolling his eyes.

"I need another napkin." Sam said, tucking a couple napkins he had under his plate.

"I'll get you one." Delia said.

"No no. I'll get it." he replied, getting up out of his seat. He walked around to Ash's side of the table. He slipped a folded piece of paper into Ash's coat pocket as he walked by him.

* * *

After breakfast Ash stood in his room staring at a particular object on the chair by his desk. It was the box Misty brought over. He walked over and knelt down in front of it. "Should I?" he asked himself, placing his hands on the box, attempting to open it. 

"Ash?" Misty walked into the room, starling Ash.

"Ahh. Hey, Mist." he jumped up and faced her.

"Ash, I'm ready to go home now." she said, and then wiped a tear from her eye.

"Are you ok?" he asked, seeing that her eyes and her face was red.

"Yes."

"Were you crying?"

"No. I just washed my face." she told him. To this Ash sighed. "I miss home."

"Ok-ok. We can go. If you really want to." Ash looked into her eyes. Her sad eyes.

"I'd like to go, now." she said.

"All right. But we've only been here for a day."

"There's something back at home I have for you. Something important." she wiped away another developing tear.

"Ok." Ash wrapped his arms around her, she did the same. They stood there hugging for quite some time.

"I'm gonna miss this place." Misty finally said.

"What do you mean? you can come back here anytime. Even if you turn out to be a spy." Ash told her, and chuckled in his mind.

"I'd like to. But don't count on it." she said.

"Are you ever gonna be the old Misty I used to know?" he asked her.

The two separated from their hug. "Can we just go now?" Misty asked

Ash sighed. "Sure."

* * *

It was about an hour later when a cab arrived to take Misty and Ash back to Cerulean City. Misty was already inside, sitting behind the driver's seat, Ash was outside saying goodbye. 

"I wish you didn't have to leave so soon." his mother hugged him.

"Me too." he replied.

"If it's ok with Misty, I'll come over tomorrow and hang out or something." Brock said, now the one hugging Ash.

"Careful with her, Ash. She's fragile." Sam told him, and shook his hand.

"Ok, professor. See you guys." Ash waved. Then pikachu emerged from the house and crossed his arms.

"Pi…" he turned away from his master.

"Sorry, buddy. But Misty and I need some alone time." Ash leaned down to pat his pokemon on the head. Pikachu sighed, but decided to except it and hugged his master's shin. "There you go. I'll be back in a few days or something. Not sure yet." he said, retreating to the cab.

The car was now leaving. It reached the Viridian forest before anything was said. Misty held the wooden box on her lap. "You never showed my mom the photos." Ash reminded her.

"Oh…maybe next time…if there is a next time." she said, placing the box below her feet now.

Ash sighed. "You keep acting weird, Misty." he looked out his window, frustrated with her. It began to sprinkle outside.

Misty closed her eyes. She seemed to be upset, just as Ash looked. "I'm not so sure I want to go back to Cerulean any more." he said, still looking out the window.

"I'm sorry." Misty apologized. And then started to cry.

Ash looked over to her. He knew she needed comfort. He took off his seatbelt ,scooted over to her and hugged her. "Ash, put your seatbelt back on." Misty ordered.

"I don't want to. You need me right now." he said, continuing to hug her tightly.

The cab driver looked into his rear view mirror to see the two. He smiled. "Odd."

"I think I know what you need." Ash said.

"What?"

"You need someone to be there for you. To hug you. To make you feel safe." he said. Misty broke free from the hug and looked into his eyes. "Lilly hasn't been the support you need has she?"

She looked out the window, she seemed to be deep in thought. She watched as the drops of rain dripped down the window. "Misty?" Ash placed his right hand on her thigh.

"Lilly hasn't been there. She spends most of her time with her boyfriend. We rarely talk. It's made me become distant." she told him.

"That explains a lot. But I'm gonna be there for you…no matter what." he said, rubbing her thigh, intending to comfort her(really).

"And I'll be there for you too." she said, turning to face him with a warm smile. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips. She then rested her head on his shoulder, the two held each other, and Ash rested his head on hers.

"Do you like the rain?" the driver asked, using his rear view mirror for eye contact.

"No." Misty responded. She closed her eyes.

"I do. It reminds me of my childhood. It rained a lot back home. Even though the rain meant I couldn't play baseball at the park, something more important came into play." the driver said, making conversation.

"My dad told stories. My brother, my mom, and I would sit on the couch and listen. He usually told a humor story, always with a great moral. My dad was quite the story teller. He was a writer for several TV shows in his day." the driver reminisced.

"Sounds interesting." Ash said.

"Yeah. But every once in awhile he would tell us a mystery story. We all tried to put the pieces together and solve it like a jigsaw puzzle. Those were always the best stories." the driver continued, a smile emerged on his lips.

Ash nudged Misty to see if she was awake. "I'm kind of involved in a mystery right now."

"Has it been fun?" the driver asked.

"Not really. It's a challenge." Ash replied, not too thrilled.

"You'll solve it eventually."

"What about the mysteries on 'Unsolved Mysteries?'" Ash asked him.

"Good point." the driver chuckled.

"Ash?" Misty asked, her eyes still closed.

"Yes." he replied, moving the bangs away from her eyes.

"When we get home…I have a surprise for you." she told him. "Ok." he replied.

"And to answer your earlier question, I don't like the rain…most of that has to do with the thunder and lightening." he told the driver. On cue, a bolt of lightening flashed across the sky, causing extremely loud thunder to sound off immediately following.

"That one was close." the driver said, startled.

"Yeah." Ash nodded. Misty still had her eyes welled shut.

* * *

Eventually they made it to Cerulean City several hours later. The cab pulled up in front of the house. "Mist…wake up. We're here." Ash nudged the sleeping beauty. 

She opened her eyes and yawned softly. The two got out of the cab and Ash paid the driver. It was not storming in Cerulean at this time. But judging from the dark clouds above, rain was sure to make an appearance soon.

Misty unlocked the door to the house and the two walked inside. "That was a long ride, huh?" Ash stated, while stretching out his arms.

Misty did not respond. She was looking up at the blue clock on the wall. The time was 5:43 pm.

"Mist?" Ash took off his coat and set it on an arm of the couch. "Hello?" he called again.

"What?" she responded with a flinch, as if she had just snapped out of a trance.

"Are you ok?" he asked her.

"Yeah." she replied. She looked at the wooden box in her hands and then walked down the hall to her room to put it away.

Ash sat down on the couch. "When will your sister's, uh sister, Lilly be back?" he asked, now regretting his question due to the way he asked it.

She reappeared, walking back into the living room. She frowned and sighed. "They'll be, she'll be back soon. don't be surprised if she gets back before me."

"Huh?" Ash raised an eyebrow, confused by her response.

"I have to go now." she told him.

"Where? Why?"

"I have to go pick up your surprise." she said, rubbing her left arm.

"I'll come with you." Ash stood up from the couch and put his coat on.

"No! no. it's a surprise. Ok?" she took off her jacket and threw it on the floor beside her.

"All right…" he looked down at her jacket, becoming increasingly confused.

"it's on 'Melody Lane.' Don't follow me. I'm only telling you the street just in case you need me. See you later." she said, and went out the door behind her.

The blue clock now read 5:47. Flashing forward it now reads 5:54 and Ash was in the bathroom washing his face and hands. He stared into the mirror at his reflection. He looked sad. Sad and scared for Misty. He was startled suddenly when he heard a noise out in the living room. It sounded like a door being shut.

He walked out of the bathroom and came through, back into the living room. He looked around, no one was there. "Misty?" he called out, but got no answer. He shrugged his shoulders and walked up to the wall of photos.

He examined the pictures he didn't look at before. There were several of Misty and her sisters swimming in the pool from quite a few years ago. Another picture was mostly all blue, a bright glowish blue.

Then he saw a picture that gave him Goosebumps. It was the picture his mom took of him and his friends on the log, the one with the dim blue light behind him. Below that photo were pictures of both Professor Oak and Gary. The odd thing was however, their heads were missing, just the bodies were in the photos. Next to those pictures were May and Max's pictures, their heads were missing as well.

"What the?" Ash grew frightened. He was not sure what to make of this. He continued skimming the pictures on the wall. He noticed many more with missing heads, including Tracy's, his moms, and even his own.

He walked down the hall to Misty's room. He flipped on the light switch, but the bulb had burned out.

Meanwhile Misty walked down the sidewalk. She was crying. In her hands she held her locket.

Ash took out a flashlight and searched her room. He bent down to look under her bed. There he found the wooden box, and pulled it out. He set the light down on the bed and opened up the box.

He saw a blue note book inside. He picked it up and read the words written across the front. 'My Diary.' he flipped through a few pages, a few lines captured his interest as he skimmed.

'I'm so upset I might kill someone.' another line read 'she's gonna regret what she said to me someday. I'll make sure of it.' 'that's it. He's dead.' he closed the diary. He felt scared now.

Then he looked down in to the box where small cut outs of people's heads lay. May, and Max and several other people's he didn't recognize.

Outside we see a car driving. The word 'water' was on the license plate.

Ash re-entered the living room. He reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone and a folded piece of paper. It was the note that Professor Oak slipped into his pocket earlier.

He unfolded the paper and read it. 'She appears to be suicidal-Oak' the note read. He shoved it back into his pocket quickly. He searched for Misty's number on his phone and dialed it.

A ring emerged from the room. He looked down at the jacket on the floor. He bent down and searched through it, finding the cell phone inside. "Shit!" he closed his phone forcefully in anger.

He became startled when the sound of a woman screaming busted through the room. He looked up to see Lilly standing there, panicked. "What the hell are you doing in my house?!" she screamed.

"I…Misty." he tried to tell her what was going on.

"No! get out, thief!" she yelled.

"Lilly, I'm not a thief."

"You're the one whose been stealing my photos, and tormenting me." she grabbed a near by broom to use as her defense.

"No. Misty invited-" he was cut off as he received a whack to the face with the broom.

"Get out-get out-get out." she ordered, and chased him out of the house with the broom.

Ash was stunned by what had just happened. He wasn't sure quite what to do at that moment, as he started walking down the sidewalk. Then he remembered what Misty told him earlier.

'It's on 'Melody Lane.' I'm telling you incase you need me. See you later.' "I've seen that street." he tried to remember where he saw it, but couldn't. his pace picked up, as he started running.

_Step one you say we need to talk  
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk  
He smiles politely back at you  
You stare politely right on through_

As he ran, the image of the 'Melody Lane' street sign flashed into his head as he tried to remember. 'Misty's crushed spirit has turned her suicidal and likely even homicidal.' he thought, now running faster.

_Some sort of window to your right  
As he goes left and you stay right  
Between the lines of fear and blame  
And you begin to wonder why you came_

He eventually reached 'Melody Lane' and it was obvious where she was. There was only one place she could be on the street. He ran into the cemetery and towards the Waterflower's grave site. "Misty?" he called, spinning all the way around in slow motion, trying to find her.

_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend  
Somewhere along in the bitterness  
And I would have stayed up with you all night  
Had I known how to save a life _

He sighed and looked down at the grave below him. this brought images to his mind.

'The mold and dirt has covered up her first name.' Ash noticed

'She was a very secret and mysterious woman.' Misty told him.

_Let him know that you know best  
Cause after all you do know best  
Try to slip past his defense  
Without granting innocence  
Lay down a list of what is wrong  
The things you've told him all along  
And pray to God he hears you  
And pray to God he hears you _

Ash bent down and scratched the dirt off the stone, where the name was covered. 'Milly' was the name inscribed.

_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend  
Somewhere along in the bitterness  
And I would have stayed up with you all night  
Had I known how to save a life _('How to save a life' by The Fray)

Then he noticed a grave beside Milly's that he did not see earlier. It was a stone flat on the ground. His mind began to fill with images.

("So what exactly did you invite me over for?" Ash asked her.

"I wanted to tell you something." Misty says. The visions of her hugging everyone as she's reunited with them flashes, along with her and Ash kissing, and everyone eating dinner together. "But I'm not sure if I can anymore."

"Do you want to go out to dinner?" Ash asks her

"NO!" she yells.

"I dove into the lake to escape the beedrill. It turned out that she had gotten caught on something at the bottom. She didn't make it." Misty explained.

"But you never realized I was drowning in the water." she sang on the couch.

"Excuse me, sir. Do you mind scooting over so I can sit by my friend here?" Ash pointed behind him with his thumb as he asked the guy in the theatre.

The man raised his eyebrow and began looking all around, searching for the friend Ash claimed was with him.

"Here's her grave." Misty pointed out.

"She lived a long life." Ash said.

"Unfortunately not all of us do." she frowned.

"I wish I could turn back time." a tear runs down her cheek.)

Back in the present time Ash is starring at the grave. The blue locket lay on top. He brushed it aside to see the name, 'Misty 'Kasumi' Waterflower.' More images began soaring through his mind.

"I died knowing I missed my chance." Misty says "It's the fourth year anniversary of my death."

"You never have to be worried about me anymore." she says.

"You sure are in high spirit today." he smiles at her.

'in memory of Misty Waterflower' the plaque on the wall reads.)

Ash couldn't believe what he had just discovered. His jaw was wide open. Then the locket slowly began lifting into the air. Ash's eyes followed it as it was lifted up.

The body of Misty slowly appeared as the necklace was placed around her neck. Ash looked up, stunned. She opened up the locket, inside were several pictures, all heads of the following people: Ash, Delia, Brock, Tracy, Gary, and Professor Oak. This allowed more flashbacks to surge through Ash's memory.

("That's a special locket. And the special person you give that locket to will let you see them forever." the old man that sold him the locket told him.

Ash looked at the tree in front of Misty's house, and then turned back to the door and knocked. We see Misty appear on a branch of the tree as she placed the locket around her neck.

Misty walks into her house and posts up the picture with the blue light behind Ash on the wall of photos, as well as the pictures of Sam and Tracy missing their heads. She then leaves, shutting the door behind her. Ash walks out into the room "Misty?" he looks around for her.

"That girl went snooping around my room earlier and stole some photos." Delia tells her son.

Pikachu runs between her legs and into Ash's arms. "Stay here with Misty, Peek." he orders his pokemon as he walks off to the bathroom.

"Pi?" Pikachu tilts his head in confusion.)

Ash was completely stunned. "Ash…"

"Misty?" he asked.

"Now you know." she told him.

"No. no. this isn't possible. This isn't a movie. This is reality." he denied what had just happened.

"Exactly. And you have to come to terms with this." she told him.

"I can't accept it. This is crazy. How can? Why can? Why didn't I know?" he asked, stunned, confused, scared.

Tears began streaming down her face.

"Why wasn't I informed of your death?" he asked her, he asked her with an upset tone.

"Well…" she started

"Why didn't your sister's…sister tell us you were gone?" he asked, joining Misty in crying.

"Lilly is the most sensitive of the Waterflower's. you have to understand she lost her parents, her grandparents, and her three sisters. She has no family left. She's suicidal, Ash." she explained to him.

He was dead silent. "I'm sorry." she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Why didn't YOU tell me though?" he asked her, starring right into her eyes.

"I was going to tell you. But when I saw how happy you were to see me, I couldn't. I couldn't break your heart. Especially when everyone else had such a strong reaction to my return." she explained.

"But you led me here to find out. Why couldn't you keep things quiet?" he asked her.

"Because I came to terms with it. I accepted it. Things can't stay this way. It's not normal. And I thought you should know." she said.

"I'd rather not know. Now I don't know what to do." he said, wiping tears away.

"Let's walk." she began walking away, leaving Ash standing there, not sure what he should do. He soon ran after her to catch up.

* * *

The two walked through a forest and came upon a lake. "What was with the glowing?" Ash asked her after a long silence. 

"Whenever the locket comes into contact with water, it glows. If I'm wearing the locket and I come in to contact with water, I glow blue as well. That's why I glowed in the rain. It's why I don't drink or like water anymore. It's why the blue light appeared in the photo your mother took. And it's why my lips glowed when you kissed me after drinking your glass of water." she explained to him.

"It makes sense and it doesn't make sense." Ash said, sort of confused.

"The water caused my death. And it feels the need to highlight me whenever it touches me." she explained further "I don't know why."

"Now what?" Ash asked. The two stood beside the lake, facing each other.

"Now it's time for me to leave you." she said, and looked towards the water.

"What?" Ash's eyes immediately widened.

Misty gripped her locket in the palm of her hand. "Things can't stay this way. I'm going to get rid of this thing." she said, looking back up into Ash's eyes.

"Wait a minute. Wait-wait-wait. What am I supposed to tell everyone?" he asked, panicking in his speech.

"Don't know. Tell them whatever you want." she said, and walked towards the body of water. Ash followed her quickly on instinct. She began lifting the locket upwards to remove it from around her neck when Ash stopped her.

"Mist no please no." he begged her, with tears in his eyes.

The locket sparkled as the sun touched it with it's rays. "I'm sorry Ash, but this can't continue any longer." she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Don't Mist, I can't stand the thought of you being gone. I want to see your face…even if I'm the only one who can." he continued to beg her, now grasping her hands in his.

"It's not right though!" she yelled while pulling away from him.

Ash looked from her to the ground beneath him. A tear drop fell from his eye and to the dirt below. "…I know." he finally responded. He looked back up into Misty's eyes, her locket held tightly in her hands. "You'll never convince me, even though it's true…you'll never convince me to feel positive on this decision." he continued to fight her.

"_She was about to leave my life again. I couldn't let her do that. I don't care if things are too different and too unusual to stay together. I wanted to be with her no matter what. She's my life, my friend, my soul mate…" _

"Oh Ash…I understand…but no matter what you say. No matter what I say. We both know what we have to do." she said, and walked closer to the lake.

Ash just stood there, watching her. She took the locket in her hand, and prepared to take it off and toss it into the water. "Misty!!!" he yelled, running in front of her to halt her actions.

"Please don't do this. Your gonna ruin people's lives if you go. Your gonna ruin everyone's lives back in Pallet, and mine. Why can't you just stay and work this out." he tried to convince her, his emotion had gotten the best of him.

"I can't Ash. It can't happen. I'm sorry but it can't. you know this has to happen." she told him, looking down at the grass they now stood on.

Ash let more tears run down the sides of his face. "Keep in high spirit." she told him, and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

"I can't. I wont." he replied.

She took off her locket, and tossed it into the lake. And she disappeared from Ash's view. He watched as the glowing blue light in the water became lighter and lighter as it sank to the bottom.

Drops of rain began to fall from the sky. Ash looked up and saw the dark cloudy sky. "I'll still be with you." Misty added last from her invisible stance.

* * *

A short time had passed. Ash was running through the woods, his arms hugged himself, trying to warm him up. He wore his blue rain coat now. Thunder roared and lightening flashed through the sky. 

He continued running, shielding his face from the rain with his hood. He held it tightly over his head. But things came to a crashing halt as he tripped over a rock in his path and hit the mud below.

He forced himself up and rested on his knees, as if he was kneeling. He breathed heavily. Out of no where a bolt of lightening struck a tree beside him. He flinched and covered himself with his hands as a shield. The tree began falling down, down towards his body, ready to crush him. He shut his eyes tightly, and braced himself for the impact.

The contact would be avoided however as a strong force thrusted him forward and out of the path of the falling tree. He landed in the mud once again, next to a puddle of water as the tree smacked the ground, throwing mud debris into the air.

Ash lied there in the mud on his side for quite awhile. His face was emotionless. He stared at the ground near his face.

"_When it seemed that there was no hope left in my life, something very touching made an appearance in the mud. Something that would end the heartbreak and illness of depression I had suffered the last four years."_

A heart shape was taking shape in the mud as if someone were drawing it with their finger. He starred at it with awe. Then he sat up and looked behind him. There was a track of footprints, different from his own.

A tear strained down his cheek and he smiled. He stood up, and wiped the tear away. "Thanks, Misty. Keep in high spirit, too. I'll try…for you." after he thanked her, he received a soft kiss planted on his lips. For a few seconds it lasted, then her presence was gone.

The storm faded. We look back to the heart Misty drew. Some words were written inside the drawing. 'Keep a high spirit.' Ash sat on the tree that had fallen over. It was now a log. He was looking up at the sky, acknowledging the beauty of the world.

_The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful  
Stop me and steal my breath  
Emeralds from mountains thrust toward the sky  
Never revealing their depth  
Tell me that we belong together  
Dress it up with the trappings of love  
I'll be captivated  
I'll hang from your lips  
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above _

I'll be your crying shoulder  
I'll be your love suicide  
and I'll be better when I'm older  
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

Rain falls angry on the tin roof  
As we lie awake in my bed  
You're my survival, you're my living proof  
My love is alive not dead  
Tell me that we belong together  
Dress it up with the trappings of love  
I'll be captivated I'll hang from your lips  
Instead of the gallows of heartache, that hang from above

I'll be your crying shoulder  
I'll be your love suicide  
and I'll be better when I'm older  
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

I've been dropped out, burned up, fought my way back from the dead  
Tuned in, turned on, Remembered the things that you said

I'll be your crying shoulder  
I'll be your love suicide  
and I'll be better when I'm older  
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

('I'll Be' by Edwin McCain)

**Im sure all of you knew what was gonna happen at the end of this story, but hopefully you still liked it. Obviously the movie, 'the sixth sense' had some inspiration in the writing of this story. And by the way, you can expect a 'High Spirit 2.' check my profile for information about it, and many other stories to come.**


	5. Ash's Journal Entry: Epilogue

**HIGH SPIRIT**

**Epilogue**

**iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii**

"_Misty was a ghost the entire time. She drowned in the lake the day we were supposed to be reunited. And the locket I bought her for her birthday ended up having more significance than I ever imagined. _

_It allowed me to see her because of it's magical possession. The only people that could see her had to have had their photo inside the locket. _

_It's why Pikachu reacted the way he did when Misty ate at the table. All pikachu saw was a fork being magically lifted into the air. _

_The cab driver didn't see her, nor the guy at the grave yard or in the movie theatre. She was in my mom's room stealing photographs of Gary and Professor Oak for the purpose of using them for the locket. _

_This story was much more than it seemed. But it's time to live life to the fullest. Time to do some serious poke'mon training."_

And with that, Ash finished writing in his journal and closed it.

**This was just something to sum some things up incase you weren't aware of the locket thing. I wasn't sure how else to explain what the importance of the locket was. But now you know, so there.**


End file.
